The invention described herein may be manufactured and used by or for the Government of the United States of America for governmental purposes without the payment of any royalties thereon or therefor.
Not applicable.
(1) Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to an apparatus for launching an object in a fluid environment.
(2) Description of the Prior Art
Devices and systems for launching objects, weapons or vehicles into the ocean or other fluid or liquid environments are known in the art. For example, such devices are used to launch or eject buoys at relatively deep depths from a submerged submarine. Some of these devices and systems for launching objects are described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,476,048, 3,516,380, 4,185,345 and 5,918,307. One particular well known prior art system uses gas generators to launch objects underwater. One such system is described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,981,307 entitled xe2x80x9cUnderwater Projectile Launcherxe2x80x9d. U.S. Pat. No. 5,981,307 discloses that the launcher described therein can use any of the well known types of chemical energy storagexe2x80x94solid, liquid or gaseous propellantsxe2x80x94for generating the gas required to launch the projectile.
Typically, many launching systems currently in operation utilize solid propellants. In such systems, the solid propellant is ignited and gas is generated from the burning propellant. This gas is used to effect the device launch. One significant problem with such systems is that the solid propellant is highly flammable and explosive and must be handled with great care. This problem creates additional cost and expense associated with handling and storage of the solid propellant, and significantly increases the time it takes to initiate and effect a safe and successful launch of an object.
What is needed is an apparatus for launching an object into a fluid environment that eliminates the aforementioned deficiencies of the prior art systems which utilize gas generation to launch an object into a fluid environment.
The present invention is directed to an apparatus for launching an object into a fluid environment such as oceans, rivers, lakes, or any fluid or liquid contained within any man-made structure or made-made earthen works. In one embodiment, the apparatus comprises a tubular member having a forward muzzle end and an opposed rearward end. The tubular member has a longitudinally extending axis, an interior region for receiving an object to be launched, an exterior wall confronting the fluid environment and an interior wall. The apparatus further includes expellable members for closing the forward muzzle end and rearward end of the tubular member, at least one flood valve member located on a corresponding expellable member for enabling fluid confronting the exterior wall to flood the interior region so as to equalize forces on the interior and exterior walls of the tubular member, and an object contact member disposed within the interior region and movable along the longitudinally extending axis. The object contact member contacts and moves the object when a propelling force is applied to the object contact member. The apparatus further includes a propellant device for producing the propelling force. The device contains a gas generator and is configured to generate gas in controlled amounts that are sufficient to propel the object contact member in the direction of the forward muzzle end. The apparatus further includes a control device that controls the flood valve member, the expellable members and the propellant device in accordance with a predetermined timed sequence wherein the control device first controls the flood valve to allow fluid to flood the interior region. Thereafter, the control device causes the expellable members to be expelled from the forward muzzle end and rearward end. Thereafter, the control device controls the propellant device to release generated gas in successive bursts so as to produce a continuous propelling force that causes the object contact member to propel the object through the tubular member, out through the forward end muzzle and into the fluid surrounding the tubular member. The successive bursts of generated gas are preferably uniform, continuous and stable thereby resulting in a fully stable ejection of the object at a relatively high exit velocity.